Any online marketer worth their salt will tell you that in order to make your website work, you need a lot of traffic. It is a central portion of any pitch from SEO experts when they talk about how they will improve the performance of your site.
Why is Traffic So Important?
There are multiple reasons why increased website traffic can be so important to the site owner. Say it is the website of a small business, entrepreneur or a major company. More traffic means more people are interested to learn about the company’s products or services. And more traffic can mean more sales, if the site has an online store.
Even if nothing is being sold on a website, increased traffic is preferred. For a blog or authority website, more traffic means greater ad revenue. Most online ads pay out each time they are seen or clicked. More site visitors mean more chances of someone viewing or clicking on an ad.
Now that you understand why increased site traffic is so important, here is our assessment of how you can drive more traffic to your site. Here are five underrated hacks that will help you with the process of getting more people to visit your website:
1. Website Optimization
A website must be fully optimized if it is to drive more traffic. The first step is an analysis of existing traffic. It is important to understand when you are getting the most traffic, where it is originating from and where these people are focusing their attention.
For instance, you may post different types of content onto your site; short videos, blog posts, podcasts, infographics and more. Understand what type of content is getting the most attention.
Not only can you assess how many people are coming onto your site to view certain types of content, but you can see how long they stay and if they view other pages during that visit.
When you are aware of your metrics, you can double down on the content that is getting you the most traffic. You can also try to spice up the types of content that are lagging behind, by trying new ideas, having more creative titles or promoting that content in a better way.
2. Social Media Boost
Companies must work to integrate their website with social media. Sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram can do so much for your business. Not only can you interact with customers and interested individuals, but you can also promote content as it is put up on your site.
You would be surprised how much traffic you can drive from a Facebook or Twitter account, especially when you start to get followers in the thousands or tens of thousands!
3. Content Outreach
There are two ways that you can use content outreach to boost your site’s traffic. The first is to have your content reposted on more popular websites. It is a very common practice, where your article appears on a site and then it says on the bottom that it first appeared on your site and that you are the owner of the content.
The second content outreach method involves getting guest writers. Ideally, you want people who have a popular online following and have some relation to the products, services or information that you are offering on your site.
4. Interviews
Interviews are interesting, offer a new perspective into an industry or topic, and allow you to get big names featured on your site. The person who you are interviewing will promote the content, people will naturally search for their name and find your post, and you will get a lot more attention on your site.
And if you do a few interviews successfully, then you will have bigger and more influential names requesting that you interview them in the future.
5. Lists Always Work
Lists are easy to consume, offer valuable information and get straight to the point. If you were to add more lists to your content, then you would find that you are getting a lot more traffic.
Another advantage to lists is their titles. When you have an article title such as “five ways to XXXXX” or “five advantages of XXXXX” then you are immediately going to attract more readers.
A useful way to integrate lists into your content would be to list top entrepreneurs, personalities, products or services in your chosen industry. Such lists are not only establishing you as an authoritative source on a subject, but they will also be viewed positively by the people or companies that you are mentioning.
Those people or companies will also share your article, which means you are generating traffic through many different sources. And if they are mentioning your article, you are getting direct or indirect backlinking, both of which are very useful.
